10 superstars 49ers could have drafted but unwisely didn’t

49ers 2019 draft re-do

Actual pick: Jalen Hurd, WR, Baylor – Rd 3, Pick 67

New pick: Terry McLaruin, WR, Ohio State – Rd 3, Pick 76 (Washington)

Even at the time, the selection of Jalen Hurd out of Baylor felt like a strange one.

The 49ers had just taken South Carolina wideout Deebo Samuel with their second-round selection, and adding another receiver just one round later might have been overkill no matter how thin the unit was heading into the 2019 draft.

It doesn’t help matters that Washington took a receiver just nine picks later who has been among the best pass-catchers in the NFL since coming into the league: former Ohio State Buckeye Terry McLaurin.

Hurd struggled with injuries during his brief time with San Francisco and never saw the field for a regular-season game before finally begin waived in November of 2021.

McLaurin, on the other hand, has already caught 222 passes for 3,090 yards and 16 touchdowns in 46 NFL games while catching passes thrown by the likes of Case Keenum, Dwayne Haskins, Colt McCoy, Kyle Allen, Taylor Heinicke, and Garrett Gilbert, although there was half a season of Alex Smith in there to soften some of the blow.

If you think the Niners wouldn’t trade the “nothing” they got from Hurd for that level of production to pair with Samuel in that offense, you’d be gravely mistaken.

Sure, maybe that means they don’t draft Brandon Aiyuk in 2020 and would have not one, but two wide receivers begging for new contracts this offseason, but this seems like a good problem to have.

McLaurin just got his new deal to the tune of three years for $70 million, one that may inform what the 49ers eventually do with Samuel.

But that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t like a do-over on drafting McLaurin over Hurd, who is out of the NFL.